A Little Goading
by FlamesOfFury
Summary: Max and Mariam were always goading each other to be the best of their ability. With Max stuck deep in thought before his match with Mystel, he needs a little encouragement. Can Mariam give him that? MaxMariam


A/N This was an idea that my muse gave me some few days ago. I found that Rick's speech was a good motivation for Max in his match with Mystel but then the idea of Mariam appearing afterwards just came into mind so I had to type it up while I had time.

So this is a short Max/Mariam fiction for the pairing's fans and for me too also. I love this pairing.

Disclaimer-I don't own Beyblade.

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**A Little Goading-FlamesOfFury**

"Max…"

Upon hearing his name the blonde haired teenager turned around, he had a lot on his mind at the moment so he didn't bother to reply until he saw the person that said his name. His eyes flickered as he tried to comprehend the person in front of him.

He shook his head in denial and let out a smile breath of air to give out his surprise. "I didn't expect to see you here…" He said as he looked at her. "Well when you hear all this commotion, you have to see if it's fact rather than fiction…"

"So once I heard about this whole BEGA thing, I decided to come down and watch the matches. I guess I arrived a little late but I was excited about seeing you play…"

"I can't play…" Max said as the dark blue haired girl shook her head and chuckled. "Yeah right, you are just saying that for sympathy because your Justice Five team have already lost twice…"

"In a row," She added.

Max was happy to see her but this wasn't helping his feelings. No-one believed he could do it, the only one who had gave him any real advice was Rick who he had just seen but this gave him no more real induction on how to play.

Seeing no reaction in Max's face to her goading, Mariam sighed and pressed her hands together unsure as to what to say next. Then she looked at Max properly, his face was down in the dumps, this was very unlike him.

Something was defitently wrong and then Mariam understood that there was so much pressure on Max right now and she was only adding to it. She bit her lip and nodded understanding completely now.

"I'm sorry," She said. Max looked up as she said this and frowned trying to understand why she said it. Her nature was to goad him, it was like that when they first met and when they had their matches, she was always pushing him to the best of his ability.

"What for?" Max asked. "For not being supportive…" She replied giving a smile.

"I mean I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now, the pressure is on and you are the only person who can get your team out of this predicament." She continued as Max just nodded understanding what she was saying.

"Can you substitute players?" She asked him. "No, it's done now; there is no going back on the conditions. We have to save Tyson for Garland and Brooklyn."

"Are they really strong then?" She asked again trying to get Max off the pressure of his own match and think of another situation. This state of mind wasn't going to do him any good at all.

"Garland has beat all the Blitzkrieg Boys…" Max stated and then he say the error in what he said and added to it. "Well Spencer, Bryan and Tala anyway, I don't know if has beaten Kai or not…"

"Oh I know who the Blitzkrieg Boys are, I saw you fight in this year's World Championships and all the other teams compete, all the Saints Shields did." She stated.

"Actually…"

Max saw her face light up with a smile and admired her for a moment. She had changed over the years he hadn't seen her, she had grown up a little more. "We had a little raffle going. Me, Ozuma, Dunga and Joseph draw all of your teams, I got the PBB All Starz…" She said drifting off.

"I cheered for you like mad and you know what…?"

"What?" Max asked her feeling a little better in himself now. "I wasn't embarrassed in cheering your name at the TV screen or falling over when I was jumping up and down…"

Max let out a laugh from this as Mariam's smile widened. "Because that is what fans do Max…"

"Fans?" Max asked puzzled.

All of a sudden she was talking about a raffle between her team and now fans?

"You have fans who want to see you in action, all of your supporters you've got over the years, those who know what Boris is capable of doing. True Beybladers stick to their morals and their standards…" She said thoughtfully.

"And you know what else?" She said directly to him spurring him on her to ask her.

"What?" He questioned.

"They stick to their strategies. They use their strengths to their full level and they never change their game plan before a match." Mariam said forcefully.

"How did you know?" Max said as she smirked and folded her arms. "The media, they always try to put a spin on things."

Mariam donned a deep voice as she imitated the voice over person she had heard over the television coverage. "Will Mystel make this a straight run for the BEGA team or will Max for the Justice Five change his strategy to come back and win one for his team?"

She coughed as she shook her head. "You go do what you best do out there. Defence and opportunities."

"Hey, it's how you beat me," She added.

"And how easy it was," He replied playfully with a smile. Mariam growled and pulled out her launcher causing Max to wave his hands in protest. "That was uncalled for." He said as she placed her launcher back round her waist slowly in case Max said anything else.

"Though I would like a match though Mariam, I love battling with you because I know I'm in for a good Beybattle," Max said with a smile to which Mariam bashfully replied "I'd love that too…"

Their eyes connected and their smiles warmed each other making them relaxed.

"You best get out there Max…" Mariam said not taking away her smile. "I'll stick to my strategy, my style; I shouldn't change it just because people want me to. This is my fight." Max said eagerly.

"That's the Max I know!" Mariam said happily clapping her hands together.

He flashed another smile to her to which she returned a wink as Max breathed in deeply and looked forward to leave.

Mariam caught him by surprise giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "Go get them," She simply said.

"Thanks…" Max said trying to take in the fact that Mariam had just kissed him. She giggled at his shyness as Max blushed crimson red.

"I'll be watching…" She added as she took a step back away from him to let him go to the inner stadium.

"Okay," Max simply said. "There has to be a vent somewhere leading to an upper level. There is no-one I'm missing watching it in here,"

"I'll look out for you" Max shouted as he was taking steps back away from her keeping in eye contact with her at all times.

"Oh! One more thing Max!" She shouted back. "Goad him as much as possible; call it practise for our upcoming match…"

"Absolutely!" He quickly replied. "And thank you for everything!"

Mariam didn't have time to reply as Max ran around the corner. She knew he couldn't risk being late and forgave instantly as the thought of not waiting for her reply came into her thoughts.

Instead she thought of his reaction to her kiss and sure enough a big smile came across her face because in those few moments she realised that seeing him on the TV did no justice in seeing him in person.

She loved seeing him and yet again she had managed to goad him and challenge him to be his best and that was the way it would always be and she wouldn't want it any other way.

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Thanks for reading, I would love to hear your thoughts on it, constructive criticism is accepted and appreciated so leave a review.

FOF


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